Criticism of The Catholic Church

Criticism of the Catholic Church includes observations made about the current or historical Catholic Church, in its actions, teachings, omissions, structure, or nature. Theological disagreements are covered on a denominational basis. Criticisms may regard the concepts of papal primacy and supremacy, or aspects of church structure, governance, and particular practices. Since the Catholic Church is the largest Christian church representing over half of all Christians and one sixth of the world's population, these criticisms may not necessarily represent the majority view of all Christian and non-believers.

Criticism of the Catholic Church in previous centuries was more closely related to theological and ecclesiological disputes. The Protestant Reformation (16th century Europe) came about due to abuses of church practices by corrupt clergy in addition to these same theological disputes. Political disputes compounded the theological grievances between Protestants and Catholics and to this day the debate begun at the Reformation has been reflected in the diversity of Christian denominations. Some contemporary criticisms of the Catholic Church relate to philosophy and culture e.g., Christianity vs. humanism.